Look at this precious piece from Cindy McKenna, an artist from Canada (Paisley, Ontario). Cindy describes this process perfectly on the back of a card she painted, called:
"Heartstones"
He reaches his hand into hearts
like a farmer gathering eggs from a nest.
He is gentle
and does not ruffle the feathers
of the timid bird that he loves.
With great skill and grace
he removes the stones which have built up
there.
He removes them with compassion and truth
and fills that void with his love
so that the little bird can snuggle deeper
into her nest.
Resting peacefully his love.
He will not wrench the stones from under her
as she has spent years adjusting to the place
they have in her nest.
He gently removes them...
Cindy's painting on the front of this card, shows a bird's
nest in the shape of a heart with a couple of eggs and a few stones that could
be mistaken for eggs, but are definitely out of place in the nest.
That's how it often is with sin...we
can become comfortable with it and rationalize its presence in our
"nest." The Master Farmer, however, waits patiently as we come to the
conclusion that all sin must be removed no matter how comfortable we have
become with its presence in our lives.
I am certain that the Lord will make
us aware of these 'stones" that must be removed, and will grant us the
perfect time and place for their removal. He is firm but gentle; clear but
patient; honest but kind; insistent but tender - all at the same time. The
bottom line is that He is unwilling for anything in our hearts to keep us from
the intimacy and fellowship that He desires with us.
The prophet, Joel is not as gentle as Cindy in
his call to this process, but he issues a powerful call to repentance:
Joel 2:12 (Amp)
Therefore also now, says the Lord,
turn and keep on coming to me with all your
heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning
[until every hindrance is removed
and the broken fellowship is restored].
The Lord wants us to turn back to
Him - not because He has caught us out, but because He is not willing for
any degree of sin to keep us from Him - We come to repentance based
on relationship, rather than rules.
Joel goes on in the next verse:
Rend your
hearts and not your garments
and
return to the Lord, your God,
for He is
gracious and merciful,
slow to
anger, and abounding in loving-kindness;
and He
revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].
A few steps as we rend out hearts
and return to the Lord...
Turn back to God – This is the secret to the heart
of repentance (turn and keep on turning - turn as often as is required)
Confront yourself
Forgiveness – This is the secret to the
release of repentance (forgive others and yourself)
Wash yourself
Be restored to God – This is the secret to the
depth of repentance (As we are restored, He takes us deeper into relationship
with Him - this is what He really wants all along)
Know yourself
Obey God – This is the secret to the power
of repentance (walking in obedience reveals that repentance is at work in our
hearts, and its fruit is growing)
Die to self
Fear of God – This is the secret to maintaining
repentance (the fear of God involves relationship with God at its core. It is
not so much about being afraid of God - rather, it is the foundation of
intimacy with Him)
Abandon yourself
May we find Him near and run back to Him - the One who is
gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness!
